Hong Kong News

Nonpartisan, Noncommercial, unconstrained.
Friday, Mar 29, 2024

Hong Kong’s Sogo department store to close for weekend over Covid-19 risk

Hong Kong’s Sogo department store to close for weekend over Covid-19 risk

Two employees at Sogo flagship store in Causeway Bay have tested preliminarily positive for Covid-19, prompting mall to close for weekend.

One of Hong Kong’s largest department stores has temporarily closed this weekend after two employees tested preliminarily positive for the coronavirus, as the city’s major banks suspended branches to stop the spread of the fifth wave.

Two staff members at the Sogo flagship store saw their test results come back preliminarily positive for Covid-19, prompting the retail heart of downtown Causeway Bay to shut its doors for Saturday and Sunday.

In a statement on its Facebook page, the department store said the whole site, including all facilities and floors, would be disinfected and all staff required to take Covid-19 PCR tests.

Meanwhile, the Bank of East Asia said 15 out of its 70 branches would close from February 7 “until further notice”.

The bank’s main branch in Central, as well as sites in North Point, Aberdeen, Telford Plaza, Mong Kok North, Sheung Shui, Sha Tin Plaza, and Tsuen Wan Sha Tsui Road, will remain open between 9am and noon on Mondays to Saturdays.

“Measures for staff and customer health protection will continue to be in place at our branches,” said the bank in a statement, adding that digital banking services would still continue.

The Bank of China followed suit, notifying its customers on Saturday that it would close 51 branches from February 7, in addition to six previously shut sites, until further notice “in support of the epidemic prevention work.”

Business hours for the remaining branches will be from 9am to 4pm on Mondays to Fridays, while select sites will maintain services on Saturdays from 9am to noon.

Standard Chartered also said it would close branches “in light of the deteriorating Covid-19 situation in Hong Kong and to align with the government’s latest anti-epidemic measures.”

The bank said that from February 8 to 25, it would schedule between 22 and 29 of its 66 branches to close alternately each week.

On Saturdays, only branches at Des Voeux Road, Kwun Tong, Mong Kok, Shatin Plaza, Chung On Street, Yuen Long would remain open between 10am and 1pm.

The Bank of East Asia will close 15 branches from February 7.


The closures of stores and businesses continue amid the city’s worsening fifth wave of infections, with a record 351 cases on Saturday, as Hong Kong’s leader said it was the worst outbreak in the two years of the pandemic.

On Friday, Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor warned of a spike in cases after Lunar New Year, due to family gatherings and at places of worship.

According to Lam, the Executive Council, her de facto cabinet, will meet next week to discuss the further tightening of social-distancing rules.

Businesses have been hit hard by the strict measures, as many Hongkongers have opted to stay home due to a surge in infection numbers.

Current regulations have seen the closure of 15 types of businesses – including fitness centres, beauty parlours, cinemas, theme parks, bars and pubs, while restaurants must stop serving dine-in customers after 6pm.

The 15-day Lunar New Year season, usually a bustling period of shopping, parades, family reunions and banquets, has been toned down since the pandemic hit the city around this time.

Dozens of shopping centres have become “eerily empty” after being hit with compulsory testing orders over the past week, said retail sector lawmaker Peter Shiu Ka-fai, especially in districts like Sha Tin and Tsuen Wan, where Covid-19 infections have surged.

With the ban on evening dine-in services, shoppers were mostly out in the afternoon after lunch, rather than at night, with some companies closing their doors early at around 8pm.

On the retail front, the government announced on Monday that sales were at HK$353 billion (US$45.31 billion) last year, an increase of 8.1 per cent from 2020, but remained 27.2 per cent below pre-pandemic and social unrest levels in 2018.

Newsletter

Related Articles

Hong Kong News
0:00
0:00
Close
It's always the people with the dirty hands pointing their fingers
Paper straws found to contain long-lasting and potentially toxic chemicals - study
FTX's Bankman-Fried headed for jail after judge revokes bail
Blackrock gets half a trillion dollar deal to rebuild Ukraine
Steve Jobs' Son Launches Venture Capital Firm With $200 Million For Cancer Treatments
Google reshuffles Assistant unit, lays off some staffers, to 'supercharge' products with A.I.
End of Viagra? FDA approved a gel against erectile dysfunction
UK sanctions Russians judges over dual British national Kara-Murza's trial
US restricts visa-free travel for Hungarian passport holders because of security concerns
America's First New Nuclear Reactor in Nearly Seven Years Begins Operations
Southeast Asia moves closer to economic unity with new regional payments system
Political leader from South Africa, Julius Malema, led violent racist chants at a massive rally on Saturday
Today Hunter Biden’s best friend and business associate, Devon Archer, testified that Joe Biden met in Georgetown with Russian Moscow Mayor's Wife Yelena Baturina who later paid Hunter Biden $3.5 million in so called “consulting fees”
'I am not your servant': IndiGo crew member, passenger get into row over airline meal
Singapore Carries Out First Execution of a Woman in Two Decades Amid Capital Punishment Debate
Spanish Citizenship Granted to Iranian chess player who removed hijab
US Senate Republican Mitch McConnell freezes up, leaves press conference
Speaker McCarthy says the United States House of Representatives is getting ready to impeach Joe Biden.
San Francisco car crash
This camera man is a genius
3D ad in front of Burj Khalifa
Next level gaming
BMW driver…
Google testing journalism AI. We are doing it already 2 years, and without Google biased propoganda and manipulated censorship
Unlike illegal imigrants coming by boats - US Citizens Will Need Visa To Travel To Europe in 2024
Musk announces Twitter name and logo change to X.com
The politician and the journalist lost control and started fighting on live broadcast.
The future of sports
Unveiling the Black Hole: The Mysterious Fate of EU's Aid to Ukraine
Farewell to a Music Titan: Tony Bennett, Renowned Jazz and Pop Vocalist, Passes Away at 96
Alarming Behavior Among Florida's Sharks Raises Concerns Over Possible Cocaine Exposure
Transgender Exclusion in Miss Italy Stirs Controversy Amidst Changing Global Beauty Pageant Landscape
Joe Biden admitted, in his own words, that he delivered what he promised in exchange for the $10 million bribe he received from the Ukraine Oil Company.
TikTok Takes On Spotify And Apple, Launches Own Music Service
Global Trend: Using Anti-Fake News Laws as Censorship Tools - A Deep Dive into Tunisia's Scenario
Arresting Putin During South African Visit Would Equate to War Declaration, Asserts President Ramaphosa
Hacktivist Collective Anonymous Launches 'Project Disclosure' to Unearth Information on UFOs and ETIs
Typo sends millions of US military emails to Russian ally Mali
Server Arrested For Theft After Refusing To Pay A Table's $100 Restaurant Bill When They Dined & Dashed
The Changing Face of Europe: How Mass Migration is Reshaping the Political Landscape
China Urges EU to Clarify Strategic Partnership Amid Trade Tensions
The Last Pour: Anchor Brewing, America's Pioneer Craft Brewer, Closes After 127 Years
Democracy not: EU's Digital Commissioner Considers Shutting Down Social Media Platforms Amid Social Unrest
Sarah Silverman and Renowned Authors Lodge Copyright Infringement Case Against OpenAI and Meta
Why Do Tech Executives Support Kennedy Jr.?
The New York Times Announces Closure of its Sports Section in Favor of The Athletic
BBC Anchor Huw Edwards Hospitalized Amid Child Sex Abuse Allegations, Family Confirms
Florida Attorney General requests Meta CEO's testimony on company's platforms' alleged facilitation of illicit activities
The Distorted Mirror of actual approval ratings: Examining the True Threat to Democracy Beyond the Persona of Putin
40,000 child slaves in Congo are forced to work in cobalt mines so we can drive electric cars.
×